


His Dead Little Brother

by Masked_Mayhem



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Big Brother Thor (Marvel), Gen, Good Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Lonely Loki (Marvel), Not A Fix-It, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), The talk we all deserved, Time Travel, not the happiest ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 23:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19120009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masked_Mayhem/pseuds/Masked_Mayhem
Summary: Upon seeing his brother--his little brother, hisdeadlittle brother, the little brother that he hadfailed to protect--he knew that he had to stop. He couldn’t just walk away,he couldn’t.





	His Dead Little Brother

**Author's Note:**

> The scene that we were all robbed of basically. I watched the movie about a month ago, and I still can't get over the fact that Thor barely even spared a glance at his little brother after everything they had been through. I personally loved chubby Thor, but I didn't make him chubby in the fic because I felt like it didn't quite match the mood of the story.

Upon seeing his brother-- _ his little brother _ , his  _ dead  _ little brother, the little brother that he had _ failed to protect-- _ he knew that he had to stop. He couldn’t just walk away,  _ he couldn’t _ . Not after the last words to his little brother, the little brother whose fate had just started to look up had been so callous, so rude.  _ The worst brother _ , how could he have said something like that? He had regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. The moment he saw his brother’s features imperceptibly falter before the mask and the defenses that had only recently come down around Thor built themselves right back up again.

Thor had been upset, angry, frustrated, but he never should have said what he did. His little brother had died thinking that Thor hated him, was upset with him, was disappointed in him when he was really anything but. 

Ignoring Rocket’s protest and hurriedly whispering to the rabbit that he go ahead and find what they needed to, he stepped into the cell, giving no thought to how dangerous it was to enter a room unarmed with nothing to defend himself. Loki’s green, green eyes darted to him the instant he stepped into the room, and he felt frozen in place.  _ His little brother, his little brother, his dead little brother.  _

Loki’s brow furrowed, and despite Thor having maintained his physique and his strength, wanting to keep his strength for the moment in which he could reverse the terrible effects Thanos’ snap had brought, Thor knew that Loki would see right through him, would spot the differences with ease.

The man in question slowly placed the object he had been throwing and catching endlessly on the bedside table next to his bed and slowly pushed himself up, curling his legs underneath him. He had yet to say a word, which surprised Thor. This version of Loki was still spiteful, angry, filled with hate towards Thor and everyone on Asgard. Why did he say nothing? Where were the barbed insults? The obscenities? The great claims of hatred and anger and superiority?

Loki continued to stare at him with his green eyes, scrutinizing him, and Thor found himself still unable to move, to speak, to do  _ anything. _ So frozen with longing was he. Longing for his little brother to be by his side in his reality. Longing for the member of his family that had stuck with him the longest.

The imprisoned man lowered his legs slowly to the ground and rose with an easy grace, slowly gliding across the room, his green eyes inquisitive and filled with an open wonder that Thor hadn’t seen in them for centuries. Coming to a stop directly in front of Thor, Loki raised his hand hesitantly, his fingers outstretched, as if he wanted to reach out and touch his face, feel for himself in different scars that now marred his older brother’s skin.

Thor knew he should move away. Should leave this cell. Should run back to the rabbit and focus on their mission, focus on getting the stones, but he was rooted to his spot. His mind screamed warnings at him; This wasn’t his Loki, the Loki that had achieved redemption and wished him no harm, the Loki that had  _ given his life _ ; No, this Loki was dangerous, filled with hatred and with spite for Thor.

_ And yet… _

The cool hand that finally found the courage to touch his face was nothing but gentle. Its touch was fleeting, careful, reverent. Thor inhaled a shaky breath, suddenly feeling a large lump in the back of his throat. He hadn’t cried after Thanos. He had been too overrun with helplessness and hopelessness to even summon the prickling of tears to his eyes, and he hadn’t had the energy to do so either. While everyone else had mourned, he had wandered aimlessly, not knowing how to cope and refusing to do so, refusing to acknowledge just how much he had lost, just how alone he was now.

But now, suddenly, Loki’s gentle touch made him want to bawl like a newborn babe. He exhaled shakily, meeting Loki’s green eyes head-on when they flickered up to meet his eye. Loki’s brow furrowed once more, his face more expressive and easy to read than Thor could ever remember it being, and his other hand, the one not tracing his cheekbone, came up to cup his right cheek earnestly, nad he titled Thor’s face so that he could get a good look at the eyepatch that covered his older brother’s right eye from view, or rather, the lack of, but Loki didn’t know that. 

He trailed the hand that had cupped Thor’s cheek up until he was tracing the edges of the black eyepatch, and with a questioning glance at Thor’s remaining eye and a short, slow nod from his older brother, he wove his seidr around the leather, gently prying it from his brother’s tan skin, allowing him to see the gruesome wound underneath. 

His little brother’s green eyes widened in horror and shock at the eyeless socket that emerged from underneath the eyepatch, and Loki tossed the offending item in the direction of the bed in favor of running his now free fingers over the disfigured area, quickly retracting his wandering fingers when Thor flinched noticeably when his fingers made contact with the still tender skin.

His hands moved instead to Thor’s cropped, dirty blonde hair, running his fingers through it and rubbing Thor’s skull gently with the heels of his palms the same way he used to do when they were but children without a care in the world.

Thor’s eye fluttered shut at the familiar sensation, and he suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion. He found himself opening his eye desperately, wanting to assure himself that his little brother was really there, was really alive before him.

Upon opening his eye, he found Loki already looking at him. His little brother’s hands moved from his hair to his chest, instead, resting against the leather of Thor’s armor, one directly over his heartbeat, the other sliding down until it reached his ribs, which Thor knew were more prominent than they had ever been before. He hadn’t had the best appetite lately, not after everything that had happened, everything that he had lost. 

“You’re not  _ my  _ Thor,” the comment was quiet, and when Thor managed to glance directly into Loki’s face, he found a soft, affectionate smile and eyes that were crinkled at the corners. 

“What...what are you talking about? I’m from here, I just--It’s just that--” Thor tried to defend himself, already knowing that any defense that he could come up with would be weak and feeble at best: Loki could always see right through him.

“Did you win?” Loki suddenly cut him off, his eyes inquisitive, searching his face desperately for an answer.

“What?” Thor felt as if the breath had been forced out of him. How did Loki know?

“Against Thanos… Did… did you win?” Loki elaborated softly, his smile gone now.

Thor remembered the screams of his people, Loki’s limp body, the people of Midgard turning into dust; He shook his head emptily.

“No,” he said simply, unable to bear the pain of elaborating further.

Loki seemed saddened by the admission, but not surprised, never surprised.

“And what did it cost you?” he asked quietly, his voice a mere whisper.

Thor tried to smile but found that he couldn’t, and Loki’s eyes crinkled with concern at the expression he made. He brought his hand up slowly, as to not startle his little brother,  _ his dead little brother _ , and cupped his cheek reverently. Loki leaned into the touch without hesitation, almost as if he had longed for the simple gesture, one that Thor always used to do in the simpler years.

“What did it cost you?” Loki repeated once more.

Caressing his little brother’s face sadly, Thor responded:

“ _ Everything _ ,” Thor whispered quietly, his voice breaking on the single word, and he felt tears gather unbidden in his eyes, tears that he had believed his body would no longer shed.

Loki blanched at the response, and stood shell-shocked for a moment as his quick mind managed to decipher what Thor hadn’t explicitly said. His green eyes widened, but he didn’t seem surprised, only saddened by the revelation, as if he had known beforehand the fate that would befall him.  

He absently murmured gentle assurances to Thor, moving his hands to his older brother’s shoulders and using the grip to pull him closer so that Loki could wrap the taller man in an embrace. He nudged at Thor’s chin with his forehead until Thor angled it slightly away, allowing Loki the room to rest his head on his brother’s shoulder.

Thor remained stiff for a few moments, unused to seeing and feeling Loki so kind, so pliant. Finally, giving into the longing to hold his little brother in his arms after being alone for so long, he wrapped his own tightly corded arms around Loki’s slender waist and pulled him closer, moving one hand to the back of his brother’s head to cradle it and ground himself.

Loki sighed in contentment instead of hissing and biting as Thor had expected him to do, and suddenly Thor was overcome with disbelief. He pulled back from Loki forcefully, meaning to push him away completely, but stopping when he had his little brother at arm’s length because  _ gods  _ his  _ little brother--his dead little brother _ .

How could he possibly leave after this?

How could he possibly leave Loki behind?

“What trick is this? What are you trying to do? What do you want? Why are you acting like this?” Thor suddenly snarled, his pain morphing into anger.

“Thor… tell me what you remember from when we were fighting on the Bifrost?”

“Not until you--”

“Thor,  _ please _ ,” that stopped Thor mid-sentence. His brother  _ never _ begged, especially not as desperately as he did now.

“I remember your anger,” he conceded after a minute of silence, and Loki nodded at him to go on. “I remember you saying that you only wanted to be my equal.” Loki smiled at him sadly, but nodded at him to keep going; That wasn’t what he was looking for. Confused, Thor recounted everything he could remember. 

“I remember you screaming at me, I remember you trying to kill me, I remember… I remember trying to kill you, I remember seeing your blue eyes filled with anger--” Loki suddenly stopped him with a smile.

“And the battle in New York? What do you remember when we fought there?” 

Frustrated with his brother’s antics, Thor made to open his mouth and say something, but was again stopped by the pleading look in his little brother’s eyes. He sighed, closing his eye momentarily and trying to remember what he could.

“I remember fighting with the Avengers on my side, I remember you throwing Stark off his tower, I remember the Chitauri you summoned, I remember your blue eyes flashing with glee when you stabbed me--” Once again Loki cut him off, seemingly satisfied, but Thor was beyond confused.

“Brother, what are you--”

“Do you see a connection between the two, Thor?” Thor wracked his brains, trying to come up with the answer that his little brother was apparently looking for.

“You hated me in both. You were angry in both,” Thor listed off, unsure as to what his brother was trying to get him to remember. 

“No, no, not that. Come now, Thor, I know you can be smart when you want to be, don’t disappoint me now,” Loki said, moving closer to his older brother suddenly, his voice urgent.

Slightly alarmed, Thor racked his brains. Was there something he was missing? What did Loki want? What was he looking for?

Thor looked into Loki’s green eyes, trying to discern from him what he wanted, but his little brother just gave him a small smile, saying nothing. Suddenly, Thor realized that he’d been a fool. He could hear nothing other than the ringing in his ears and his vision blurred alarmingly. He felt his knees go weak and his legs buckled underneath him. He hit the floor on his knees and sank down so he was resting on his heels, looking up at Loki beseechingly. 

His little brother let out a sound of shock and sank down with him, hands at his older brother’s sides, asking anxiously if he was alright, if he needed something, if he wanted to lie on the bed for a minute.

Thor silenced his brother’s rambling questions by slowly raising his hand and running the backs of his fingers over Loki’s soft cheek. He used the same hand to cup his brother’s cheek and run his thumb over the prominent cheekbone. 

Loki stilled and his hovering stopped, and he simply stayed still, not talking, barely even breathing, as Thor turned his tear-filled blue eye to Loki’s eyes. Loki’s  _ green  _ eyes.

He would never forget the cloudy blue eyes that had spit fire at him while the mouth attached spit mad curses and accusations at him, aiming to wound and punish. He would never forget how emancipated and haunted Loki looked on Midgard, how weak his attacks seemed, how unfocused and callous he was being when Thor knew his brother to be anything but. He remembered how his brother’s cloudy blue eyes had burned with resentment and hatred when Thor had pleaded with him to stop the madness he had brought about. The same cloudy blue friend Barton’s eyes had been when he had been under the control of the scepter, of the Mind Stone. How could Thor have been  _ so blind _ ?

“ _ The whole time _ ?” Thor asked quietly, his voice breaking. “You said Thanos had sent you. Was he… was he controlling you the whole time?”

Loki looked away from Thor, suddenly ashamed, and Thor knew that his assumption had been right.

“Even before I met him for the first time, he was influencing me. Later, after I fell into the void and fell into his clutches, he revealed that he’d scoured the universe for someone like me. For someone who had been belittled and criticized his entire life, someone who had never amounted to anything. And to get me to fall into his clutches, he manipulated me from afar, doing everything he could to turn me against everyone I’d once cared about,” Loi’s voice was soft, and he refused to look at his older brother.

Thor made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a sob in his throat and grabbed Loki’s hand, his slender hand that seemed so small and fragile in comparison to Thor’s large, scarred hands. 

Loki misinterpreted the sound as disgust, and he rushed to explain, to get Thor to understand, squeezing Thor’s hand desperately to the point of pain.

“I tried, Thor, I tried  _ so hard  _ to withstand him, and for a long period of time he could not break me, he could not enter my mind. I was never strong physically but it wasn’t my physical strength he wanted--he wanted my  _ mind _ . He tortured me, made me scream, cry,  _ beg, plead _ for him to just stop--” Loki’s voice had been rising in volume throughout his tirade as if he was trying to get Thor to understand, and his fingers had tightened unconsciously on Thor’s side as if he were trying to keep his older brother from leaving him. He seemed crazed, desperate, insane,  _ terrified _ . But suddenly, he cut himself off and closed his eyes. His  _ green, green _ eyes. 

“It didn’t matter in the end. I… I gave in. There was so much pain--Thor I couldn’t escape it,  _ Gods _ , there was so much pain, so much fear… I tried…  _ I tried,  _ Thor... but I was never like you… I…  _ I was weak _ .” his voice had dropped to a whisper, and Thor felt his already shattered heart break into even smaller fragments. His chest ached for his little brother who had retracted his hands from Thor’s body and ducked his head as if he was ashamed, as if he had accepted the fact that his older brother would not understand, would leave him.

“I… I’m sorry, Thor… I just…  _ I’m sorry _ ,” Loki made as if to get up, to move away from his brother.

Thor lunged.

Loki let out a startled cry as strong arms wrapped around him, holding him lovingly, tenderly, and he went stiff when he was pulled back to Thor’s body. He said nothing when Thor gently pushed his face into his chest, remained stiff when one of his older brother’s hands ran through his wavy hair that had curled wildly at the bottom. He was confused. What was Thor doing? 

“You  _ are not _ weak,” Thor suddenly said, the conviction and surety in his voice shocking Loki even further. “He had the power to lay waste to  _ half the universe _ , a mere man cannot withstand that, even if he is a god. Loki,  _ Gods Loki _ , why didn’t you ever  _ tell me _ ?”

Loki finally found his voice,

“Would you have believed me?” he asked quietly, letting himself take comfort in the warmth his brother was offering. He had been cold for  _ so long _ .

Thor opened his mouth, ready to vehemently claim that he would have, but then stopped before the words left his mouth.

“Think about where I am now. Don’t think about your reality. When you were in the same place as the Thor in this time is, would you have believed me had I told you that I had been manipulated the entire time?” Loki’s voice was soft, but not accusatory, and Thor found himself hating that fact that his little brother who had suffered  _ so much  _ wasn’t even angry at the person that had let it all happen.

“You could have told me later. Much happens from here on out, much that you don’t know about. You have so many chances to tell me. Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Thor felt delirious. Why hadn’t his brother ever asked for help? Why hadn’t his little brother ever told him?

“Maybe I just felt as if it wasn’t relevant, or maybe I just remembered this conversation and knew that you would find out one day.”

Thor clenched his eyes shut, and buried his nose in his little brother’s sweet-smelling hair, inhaling the scent shakily as his tears threatened to make their way down his face.

“I’m sorry,” Thor whispered, his eyes still shut. He could feel his own arms trembling.

“For what, Brother?” Loki gently rubbed his own hands up and down Thor’s arms in an attempt to calm him down. He didn’t seem to be asking the question in a mocking manner. He was genuinely curious as to why Thor was apologizing.

“I… I should have protected you. You’re my _little brother_ , my _baby brother_ … I promised, I _promised_ myself when we were children and Mother showed me your fragile body in your crib and I laid my eyes on you, on my _precious little brother_ \--I promised myself that I would protect you. I told myself I would do anything for you. I told myself I would never leave your side. I promised these things not only to myself, but to you as well… but I’ve failed you. Time and time again, I’ve _failed_ _you…_ ”

“ _ Thor _ ,” Loki’s voice was exasperated, and he gently pulled back from Thor’s embrace so that he could cup his brother’s face in his hands and smile at him softly. “Listen to me. There was  _ nothing you could have done _ . My…  _ death _ was sealed the  _ moment  _ he set his sights on me. It was sealed the  _ moment  _ he decided that I was to be a pawn in his terrible plan. There was absolutely  _ nothing  _ you could have done to prevent this.”

Thor’s eye was filled with despair at the reminder of his little brother’s death, and his arms tightened around Loki’s waist once more as he realized that he could have to return to a world in which he was alone when they got what they came for on this mission.

“ _ I don’t want to leave you _ ,” he whispered brokenly, the tears in both of his eyes finally spilling over and wetting his cheeks and dripping into his beard as his body shook uncontrollably.

“ _ I can’t lose you. I can’t go back, not without you. Please… please I can’t, _ ” He couldn’t stop his tears at this point, couldn’t stop himself from remembering the emptiness that plagued his waking hours in his time. He didn’t want to leave, Gods, how could he possibly leave his baby brother here, knowing what was going to happen to him. Knowing that Thanos’ fist would tighten around his Loki’s throat, cutting off his air and eventually snapping his neck as easily as if he were breaking a wooden pencil in half. 

Gods, Thor couldn’t  _ breathe _ . Why hadn’t he ever talked to Loki, why hadn’t he ever tried to figure this out on his own? Why hadn’t he ever thought about the differences between the Loki he knew and the deranged maniac that had attacked him? He couldn’t breathe,  _ he couldn’t breathe. _

“...Thor... _ Thor… _ shhhhhhh, it’s alright…  _ it’s alright _ … breathe with me, come now Thor,  _ calm down _ …” 

Latching onto the comfort his little brother was offering, he managed to even out his breathing, but he couldn’t stop the tears that continued to stream down his face. He allowed himself a sardonic smile; Even now, it was his little brother that was taking care of him instead of the other way around.

“You can’t stay here, Brother,” Loki finally whispered when Thor’s sobbing had reduced itself to nothing more than small sniffles, and Thor clenched his eyes shut at the truth of the statement.

“I know,” he said back quietly, feeling the familiar emptiness in his chest growing once more.

“And I can’t accompany you back to your time,” Loki finished, his voice soft, but understanding, his lovely face so innocent, so  _ young _ .

“I know,” Thor whispered once more. He wanted to scream about the unfairness of it all. He wanted to scream, to cry, to shout, to beg. He just wanted his little brother,  _ his dead little brother _ , back by his side. He just wanted this, but he knew that this was the one thing that he could not have. His baby brother was dead, and there was nothing Thor could do to bring him back. 

_ How could they possibly leave each other once more? _

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, both attempting to calm themselves down. Both relishing the comfort the other was offering, knowing that it would be the last time either of them could feel this closeness with one another.

“Could you tell me something?” Loki suddenly asked, still wrapped up in Thor’s arms, still having his own hands wrapped around Thor’s shoulders, still resting his head on his older brother’s shoulder.

“Anything, Brother,” Thor answered, running one of hands up and down the length of Loki’s back, occasionally running a hand through his soft hair.

“In your time… in my future… what happens to us? Do we… do we reconcile?” Loki seemed afraid of the answer, and Thor was filled with pain once more. He wished he could stay here. He wished he could spend eternity extinguishing this fear that Loki carried with him. He wished he could vouch for Loki’s innocence now that he knew the truth. He wished for so much, but he knew none of it would ever become reality.

“You try to kill me multiple times,” Thor smiled lifelessly and Loki let out a small chuckle. “I try to kill you a few times. We lose each other every now and then. We meet new people and are forced to let go of the old. But in the end, in  _ your  _ end… we part as  _ brothers _ . Two brothers that love each other very, very dearly and would do anything for one another.”

He remembered his little brother’s demise once more. Remembered how fear had filled his pale face, how he had kicked and scratched at Thanos to get some sort of escape, how his body had gone completely limp, how his chest had remained unmoving and cold despite how much Thor begged him to breathe, and he exhaled a shaky breath, curling closer to his baby brother, wanting nothing more than to be able to protect him.

_ How do you say goodbye to a brother you know you’re never going to see ever again? _

“So when I… when I  _ die _ ,” Loki’s voice visibly trembled on the word, “we’re on good terms? You forgive me for everything I’ve done despite not knowing the truth?” Loki’s big eyes looked up at Thor, and Thor finally focused on them enough to read the fear in them, the sadness, the pain.

_ His dead little brother. _

_ His dead baby brother. _

“Yes, Brother. I forgive you even without knowing the truth. Why do you think I was so desperate when I saw you? You saw me when I stepped into the cell. You’ve always been able to read me,” Thor tightens his arms around his baby brother but knows that no matter how tightly he holds Loki here, he cannot protect him from the future.

“I’m…  _ I’m scared _ …” the small statement made Thor want to scream, want to rage. But he didn’t. What good would it possibly do? In the end, his little brother would be left alone in this cell. In the end, they would only ever engage with each other as acquaintances, accomplices, not as brothers. In the end, Loki would still die, and Thor would still be helpless to stop it. In the end, Thor would still fail.

“It’s alright to be scared,” Thor whispered, shutting his eyes against the tears that he could feel building up once more.

“When he… when  _ it  _ happens… I want you to remember this moment, alright? I want you to forget any hateful comment I’ve ever thrown at you, any disbelief I’ve ever expressed about you. I want you to remember this moment, I want you to remember that  _ I love you _ , Loki… I love you  _ so, so _ much.” 

Loki suddenly let out a loud laugh, and, perplexed, Thor leaned back just enough to see his brother’s face, which was still tucked against his shoulder. His little brother had tears staining his face, and Thor’s insides clenched painfully at the sight. Despite the tears, however, there was a large, genuine smile on Loki’s face, and Thor watched, utterly baffled, as his little brother let out another happy laugh.

‘Loki, I’m confused… What… what are you laughing at?”

Loki turned bright, tear-filled green eyes to his older brother.

“Thor,  _ you love me _ . You said you  _ love me _ . You know the truth now, you  _ know the truth _ ! You know my actions weren’t my own. You know that I love you, that I’ve loved you all this time, you know the  _ truth _ !”

Thor suddenly realized what his brother was getting at. 

“You’re happy that you don’t die hated,” he said quietly, feeling an ache in his chest as he realized that his brother had expected to die alone, misunderstood, and hated by all.

Loki nodded happily against him, curling closer to Thor with a small smile.

“All these years I thought when he finally caught up to me, that when he finally came to kill me once and for all, that I would be alone and hated by all. But… but  _ you love me _ ,” he let out another giddy laugh.

“Yes, Loki, I love you.  _ So  _ much,” Thor gave his little brother a watery smile.

“And I love you, Brother. Do you remember what I told you before your coronation? I told you to never doubt that I loved you. As hard as it may be to believe, I never stopped loving you, Thor. How could I? You’re my older brother.  _ My brother _ ,” Loki let out another laugh, quieter this time, but no less happy. “ _ My big brother _ .”

Thor heard a throat clear behind him, and he turned minutely to see the rabbit out of the corner of his eye, holding what they had come for. He felt a brief panic in his chest.

_ No, no, no, he wasn’t ready, he would never be ready! _

He felt a small hand cup his face and turn him back to face his little brother,  _ his dead little brother _ . Loki gave hima small, sad smile and cocked his head in the direction of the rabbit. 

“You can’t stay here, Thor,” he whispered, tears making their way out of his big, green eyes. “It’s time for you to go,” his little brother’s voice broke, and Thor watched as he bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling too visibly.

Feeling terror suddenly take root in his chest, he pulled Loki into him in a crushing embrace one last time, knowing that this would be the last time that he would be able to do so. He could feel his little brother’s fingers clutching desperately at him, holding Thor as tightly and Thor was holding him.

“You… you have to take care of yourself, alright, Brother? You can’t let yourself waste away,” Loki mumbled quietly, trying to keep his voice steady despite the lump in his throat

Thor nodded wordlessly against Loki’s hair, not trusting his voice enough to form words.

Finally, they parted, and Thor rose to his feet, turning his back to his brother, who remained seated on the floor, watching him with those big, green eyes, and his tearstained face.

Thor made his way back to the rabbit, who clasped his leg with one of his paws as he neared, offering silent comfort.

“Thor, wait,” his little brother’s voice startled him, and he turned to face Loki once more with a deep breath. 

Loki was still kneeling on the ground, staying in the exact same position Thor had left him in. 

“ _ Mjolnir _ , take  _ Mjolnir _ with you,” he insisted.

Thor didn’t even question how Loki had known that it had been destroyed.

He raised his right arm, calling it, waiting with bated breath as nothing happened, and then,  _ there _ , it was hurtling towards him, and--- _ it was in his hands again _ . He stared in it in unconcealed shock.

“You’ll  _ always  _ be worthy, Thor,” his little brother whispered to him, green eyes shining with pride, and  _ gods  _ how could Thor just  _ leave him here _ ?

The rabbit quietly said his name as if reading his mind, and Thor raised his hand as the white quantum suit enveloped his body, ready to press the button that would whisk him back to his time, to his world. The button that would take him away from Loki, away from his little brother,  _ his dead baby brother. _

Before his thumb descended on it, he took one last glance at Loki, at his little brother, at his  _ dead little brother _ . Loki was looking right back at him, tears still dripping from his big, green eyes. He looked so small in the wide prison room, so lonely and abandoned against the white floors and walls. His little brother,  _ his dead baby brother _ . 

Loki smiled at him, a sweet, innocent smile that made Thor smile back in turn, heart clenching in his chest because  _ gods  _ he hadn’t seen Loki smile like that in  _ so long _ . 

His thumb came down on the button, and Thor was whisked away, his brother’s loving smile the last image that his mind could comprehend.

_ His little brother. _

_ His dead baby brother. _

_ Thor had failed, _

_ And now he was all alone.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed!


End file.
